Leading through the grey

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Sally Schmall
Sally Schmall
Head of Executive Leadership Development
March 30, 2025

That’s a topic many of our clients are navigating. Individually as leaders and collectively as teams. It’s the very core of several upcoming workshops we are facilitating for leadership teams in NZ, AU and Italy over the next month

https://www.fivenz.com/team

Research and client insights reinforce that leading others during uncertainty and change requires an abundance of personal resilience. Not a little - but a lot of resilience by building awareness and skills to create balance and harmony across our emotional, physical, spiritual and mental wellbeing.

I’ve been thinking about why this is so critical. Our clients are diverse, across various industries, public and private and spread across different countries. But they all have one thing in common; Their leaders need resilience to successfully manage the paradoxes that elicit vulnerability and tension inherent in leading change.

Here are a few of those paradoxes we are seeing - there are many more so please share your experiences!

  • Big heart and tough decision making
  • Hope and hesitation
  • Simplicity and complicated choices
  • Humility and resolve to move forward

Building resilience is not easy, but as the saying goes “Smooth waters never built a skilled sailor.” So if you’re headed into the wind, pause and ask yourself how you are tacking along this week?

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Picture by Emily Woodhouse

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Who to talk to at Five

Sally Schmall
Head of Executive Leadership Development
sally@fivenz.com
James Kitney
Chief Strategy and Transformation Catalyst
james@fivenz.com
Nick Mackeson-Smith
Chief Curiosity Officer, Founder and Director
nick@fivenz.com

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